“Darling!” Erich’s tone was solicitous. He came over and took both her hands.

“Not too close,” Mark warned. “Give her air.”

Her head started to clear. Slowly she sat up, the taffeta skirt rustling as she moved. She felt Mark slip pillows behind her head and back.

“Sheriff, I can answer any questions you have. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I’ve not felt quite well these past few days.”

His eyes seemed wider and shinier now, as though they’d locked into an intense focus on her. “Mrs. Krueger, I’ll make this brief. You did not phone your former husband on the ninth of March to request a meeting, nor did he arrive here that night?”

“That’s correct.”

“Why would he have told his colleagues that you had called him? What purpose would he have in lying?”

“The only thought I have is that sometimes Kevin used to say he was visiting me and the children when he wanted to get out of other plans. If he was in the process of dropping one girlfriend for another, he’d often use us as an excuse.”

“Then may I ask why you’re so upset at his disappearance if you think he might be off with some woman?”

Her lips were so stiff it was hard to form words. She spoke slowly, like a teacher enunciating for a first-year language class. “You must understand there is something terribly wrong. Kevin had been accepted by the Guthrie Theater for the repertory company. That is true, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.”

“You must look for him,” she said. “He would never jeopardize that opportunity. Kevin’s acting is the most important thing in his life.”

They all left a few minutes later. She insisted on walking with them to the front door. Jenny could imagine the conversation that would take place when Emily reported back to her mother: “She’s not a widow… that was her ex-husband she was kissing in the restaurant… and now he’s missing… the sheriff obviously thinks she’s lying… poor Erich…”

“I’ll treat this as a missing person… Get out some flyers… We’ll be back to you, Mrs. Krueger.”

“Thank you, Sheriff.”

He was gone. Mark pulled on his coat. “Jenny, you ought to go right to bed. You still look mighty rocky.”

“Thanks for coming you two,” Erich said. “Sorry our evening ended so badly.” His arm was around Jenny. He kissed her cheek. “Shows what happens when you marry a woman with a past, doesn’t it?”

His tone was amused. Emily laughed. Mark’s face showed no emotion. When the door closed behind him, Jenny wordlessly started up the staircase. All she wanted to do was to go to bed.

Erich’s astonished voice stopped her. “Jenny, surely you’re not planning to leave the house in this condition overnight?”

20

Rooney let herself in as Jenny was sipping a second cup of tea after breakfast. Jenny spun around at the faint click of the door. “Oh!”

“Did I scare you?” Rooney sounded pleased. Her eyes were vague; her thin hair, scattered by the wind, blew around her birdlike face.

“Rooney, that door was locked. I thought you said you’re not supposed to have a key.”

“I must have found one.”

“Where? Mine is missing.”

“Did I find yours?”

Of course, Jenny thought. The coat I gave her. It was in the pocket. Thank God I didn’t admit to Erich that I lost it. “May I have my key, please?” She held out her hand.

Rooney looked puzzled. “I didn’t know there was a key in your coat. We gave you back your coat.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Yes. Clyde made me. He put it back himself. I saw you wear it.”

“It’s not in the closet,” Jenny said. What difference? she thought. She tried a new approach. “Let me see your key, Rooney, please.”

Rooney pulled a heavy key ring out of her pocket. The large bunch of keys were all individually tagged: house, barn, office, grainery…

“Rooney, aren’t these Clyde’s keys?”

“I guess so.”

“You must put them back. Clyde will be angry if you take his keys.”

“He says I shouldn’t take them.”

So that was how Rooney got into the house. I’ll have to tell Clyde to hide his keys, Jenny thought. Erich would have a fit if he knew she could get at them.

Jenny looked at Rooney with pity. In the three weeks since the sheriff had come, she hadn’t visited Rooney and in fact had tried to avoid running into her. “Sit down and let me pour you a cup of tea,” she urged. For the first time she noticed that Rooney had a package tucked under her arm. “What have you got there?”

“You said I could make the girls jumpers. You promised.”

“Yes, I did. Let me see.”

Hesitantly Rooney opened the brown paper and shook two violet-blue corduroy jumpers from tissue wrapping. The stitching was fine; the strawberry-shaped pockets were embroidered in red and green. Jenny could see that the sizes would be perfect.

“Rooney, these are lovely,” she said sincerely. “You sew beautifully.”

“I’m glad you like them. I made Arden a skirt with this material and had some left over. I was going to make her a jacket too but then she ran away. Don’t you think this is a pretty shade of blue?”

“Yes, I do. It will be wonderful with their hair.”

“I wanted you to see the material before I started, but when I came that night you were on your way out and I didn’t want to interfere.”

On the way out at night? Not likely, Jenny thought but let it go. She found herself glad for Rooney’s company. These weeks had dragged so. Ceaselessly she thought about Kevin. What had happened to him? He was a fast driver. He’d been driving a strange car. The roads were icy that day. Could he have been in an accident, maybe not hurt himself but have wrecked the borrowed car? Would that have panicked him into leaving Minnesota? Always she got back to one irrefutable fact. Kevin would never walk away from the Guthrie Theater.

She felt so rotten. She should tell Erich she was pregnant. She should see a doctor.

But not yet. Not until something was resolved about Kevin. The news of the baby should be joyful. It shouldn’t be told in this tense, hostile atmosphere.

The night of the dinner party Erich had insisted that every piece of china and crystal be handwashed, every pot scrubbed before they went upstairs.

As they got into bed, he’d commented, “I must say you look pretty upset, Jenny. I didn’t realize that MacPartland meant that much to you. No, I’ll correct myself. Maybe I’ve sensed it; maybe that’s why I’m not even surprised that you had a clandestine meeting with him.”

She’d tried to explain but to her own ears the justification seemed feeble and halting. Finally she’d been too tired, too upset, to discuss it any further. As she’d drifted off to sleep, he’d put his arm around her. “I’m your husband, Jenny,” he said. “No matter what, I’ll stand by you as long as you tell me the truth.”

“… Like I said, I didn’t want to interfere with your visit,” Rooney was saying.

“What… Oh, I’m sorry.” Jenny realized she had not been listening to Rooney. She looked across the table. Rooney’s eyes were clearer. How much of her problem was her absolute obsession with Arden? How much was the loneliness of no outside contacts? “Rooney, I’ve always wanted to learn to sew. Do you think you could teach me?”

Rooney brightened. “Oh, I’d love that. I can teach you to sew and knit and crochet if you want.”

She left a few minutes later. “I’ll get everything together and come back tomorrow afternoon,” she promised. “It will be like old times. Caroline didn’t know how to do none of those things neither. I was the one who taught her. Maybe you can make a nice quilt before something happens to you.”

“Hal-lo, Jenny,” Joe called cheerfully.

Oh, God, Jenny thought. Erich was just a few steps behind her with the girls but had not turned the corner into the stable.